Monday, August 19, 2013

I have alluded a bit over the past
couple of months that there may be a slight shift in focus to my work in
Kenya. That shift has now solidified into a picture of sorts, which I
would like to share with you. I'm excited about the shift and about the
potential that it holds.

As you know, I ran a pilot project
in Kitale during February-May of this year. This pilot project, along
with two other concurrent projects, went very well. In fact, they went
better than expected, with the reception of the church being very positive, and
the response of the business members more positive than I had seen in the many
classes run in West Africa. I believe that this positive response was in
large part due to the affirmation of the church and interaction from the
pastor. In other words, the Church was not just the venue but an
important determinant in the success of the business owners embracing their
role as Marketplace Ministers.

The Business as Mission Congress in
Thailand then affirmed that there is a good understanding and a growing field
of resources relating to why Business as Mission is important, but the
resources as to "how" to do this work in a way that bears relevance
in a Marketplace, a city, or a nation are difficult to find, if they even
exist. And that is pretty typical for a new movement. Movements
typically start with why it should be, and then later comes how to do it.

While many organizations or
individuals working with Business as Mission focus on individual businesses,
the calling of the Lausanne Commission in 2004 was to first call the Church,
and then release the business owners. This is the wording from that
document:

We call upon the Church world wide
to identify, affirm, pray for, commission and release business people and
entrepreneurs to exercise their gifts and calling as business people in the
world - among all peoples and to the ends of the earth.

We call upon business people
globally to receive this affirmation and to consider how their gifts and
experience might be used to help meet the world's most pressing spiritual and
physical needs through Business as Mission.

What I find interesting in this
language is that the recommendation for business owners is to "receive
this affirmation" and move into Business as Mission (BAM). The
affirmation needs to come from the Church who is being called upon to
"identify, affirm, pray for, commission and release" these business
people. There is an order here: first the church affirms, then the
business owners go out. Yet, most BAM groups are not addressing the
Church. There is much complaining about the Church, in that the Church
does not affirm business people or sees business people as less holy, or only
wants business people for their money. Yet, the Church is not being
challenged, taught, or addressed. When I proposed a shift to my work a
year ago to engage the Church more in BAM and directly involve them in this
work, I was told by a number of people that it would be foolish to do
this. I was told that the Church is too difficult to work with, too
bureaucratic, too desiring of power, and that it will not be successful.

I am happy to see that this is not
the case. The churches and pastors that I have worked with thus far have
been excited about BAM and have recognized how it can build not only their
church, but can reclaim the Marketplace that Jesus has already redeemed.

So what is the shift you are
asking? (In other words, get to the point, Renita!) Because of the
lack of "how" to do BAM and because of the skepticism regarding
working with the Church, ICM has challenged me to go deeper with three pilot
projects that will last 12-18 months (rather than my earlier proposal of 12
cities in two years, which would have been very light touches or surface
approaches). The goal will be to do this with an eye on research,
developing a baseline of the businesses, churches, communities and Marketplace,
run the pilot program, and compare results many months later to see whether we
can prove that the Church is a relevant vehicle for Business as Mission.

ICM has partnered with Partners
Worldwide on this project. The work will still begin in the Seminary,
with on-going classes in Business as Mission being taught, but will then
proceed to three churches in three different cities, from three different
denominations. The Partners Worldwide model of training, mentoring,
access to capital and advocacy will then be rolled out in the church, and the
ensuing months will be working with the church to provide ongoing discipling,
training, and supporting of the Marketplace Ministers.

Jeff Bloem

Because this project is much more
research based, with a high demand on interviewing and gathering of data, I
have hired an intern by the name of Jeff Bloem, to be a research assistant with
me in Kenya for the next year. Jeff is a recent graduate from Calvin
College with a degree in Economics and International Development. He
spent a semester in Ghana doing some research with my former colleagues and
friends at Hopeline Institute. He has to raise 100% of his support, so
please pray along with us for the provision of his funding. Additionally,
I would like to hire a Kenyan to work alongside us in this work. One of
the shifts has been to see that this work is not about Kenya alone, but will
hopefully have a global application. However, as the research is
happening in Kenya, it will be important for a Kenyan to join the work, both to
weigh in as to cultural issues that are inherent to Kenya, as well as to carry
the work on once the research project has ended.

I'm excited about being involved in
such a research project and pray that we may find a solution that allows for
churches in the future to engage their business persons and have an impact on
the Marketplace and nations, impacting systems.

Some people have asked me how they
can join in this work. So glad you asked!

There is a need for prayer partners for 150
businesses as we like to have a one-on-one relationship with people to
pray individually for the needs of each business.

There is a need for mentors who will be able to
use their gifts and talents to impact a high-level business (types of
skills needed: marketing, book-keeping or accounting, strategic
planning, technology, management, personnel, and specific skills relating
to quality control and manufacturing).

Maybe you have a specific business expertise and are
willing to come to teach a group of businesses for a
week.

Maybe you are interested in investing some money
in a business in the form of a loan at a low interest rate to help build
capacity in a local business.

I am also building a team to surround this work in
prayer over the next 18 months as we get into the project.

Many of you have joined me by giving financially
(I am about 85% of the way there in terms of pledges! Praise God!)
and that is an ongoing need.

If you are interested in more
information on any of these, please email me at renitar@icmusa.org.

The following video was done by Right Now Ministries, on Work as Worship. It is very well done and captures the essence of what we are trying to do. Enjoy!

Bob Reed

What does it mean to be a "Reed in the Wind?"

From Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey:

The Virtue of Flexibility

Trees look strong compared with the wild reeds in the field. But when the storm comes the trees are uprooted, whereas the wild reeds, while moved back and forth by the wind, remain rooted and are standing up again when the storm has calmed down.

Flexibility is a great virtue. When we cling to our own positions and are not willing to let our hearts be moved back and forth a little by the ideas or actions of others, we may easily be broken. Being like wild reeds does not mean being wishy-washy. It means moving a little with the winds of the time while remaining solidly anchored in the ground. A humorless, intense, opinionated rigidity about current issues might cause these issues to break our spirits and make us bitter people. Let's be flexible while being deeply rooted.

Paying Attention to the Wind

"The wind blows where it wills." That was Jesus, who compared the spirit of God to the wind. The Reeds have followed the Wind from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Monrovia, Liberia, to Accra, Ghana, then to Kitale, Kenya. Now the work of Discipling Marketplace Leaders is spreading through West, East, and Northern Africa, as well as to Central America. Join Renita as she still seeks to understand what it means to be "shaken by the Wind."